


Hello

by ashotinthedark



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/F, F/M, I Don't Even Know, I Tried
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-17
Updated: 2014-02-17
Packaged: 2018-01-12 19:06:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1196145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashotinthedark/pseuds/ashotinthedark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Zuko is a badass singer, Katara cheers for the football team, Toph cheers for the other team, Sokka doesn't know how to not have sex with Suki, and Aang is pretty sure that mathletes is a real sport.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hello

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Zutara Week 2011 prompt Social Networking, but never posted and one can only imagine why. Revised. Disclaimer: I obviously don't own anything from A:TLA, thank God. I also do not own the lyrics to Hello by Hawk Nelson.

Two minutes. 

Dear God, if Katara could just get through these next two minutes, then she would be home free. She tapped her pencil impatiently against her desk to the beat of some terrible punk song Sokka was always listening to, earning a glare from the kids seated around her. And a punch in the arm from Toph sitting (sometimes fortunately, but at the moment, _unfortunately_ ) right next to her. Her pencil dropped with a _plink!_ onto the floor. 

"Toph!" She growled. "Pick that up!"

The girl in question only stared at her with an unsettling, blank expression on her porcelainface. Katara rolled her eyes, reaching down to pick up the utensil with a resigned sigh. _Dammit, Toph,_ She thought to herself as she searched the ground for the pencil. Of course, she just had to punch her in the shoulder. A simple glare would have sufficed. 

About ready to get on her hands and knees to search for her ONLY REMAINING pencil, Katara was surprised to see it staring back at her in a pale, masculine hand. She scanned the hand, to the arm, to the shoulder, to the neck, to the face of Zuko Agni. She felt her cheeks grow warm.

"Oh, um, thanks." She somehow managed to stutter out before grabbing the pencil hastily.

His face remained impassive as he replied, "No problem."

Katara crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back in her seat, staring straight ahead at the chalk board. Her stomach did flip flops. Zuko. Agni. TALKED TO HER. Her mind suddenly went into overdrive. Normally, Katara wouldn't indulge in this embarrassing type of behavior–even if it was in her own head–but things were always different whence concerning Zuko Agni, however inconvenient that may be.

Her fan-girling was interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. The kid next to her was practically shoving a ripped piece of notebook paper into her face. It was obnoxious, to say the least. Not to mention the dirt under his fingernails that were getting increasingly closer to the skin of her nose. Gross.

"Excuse me," she hissed. "Get your dirty fingers out of my personal space!" The kid only shot her a lopsided grin, before flicking the note at her desk. He, rather conveniently, missed, however, and it instead landed right on top of Toph's lap. _Oh, no._

Toph raised a dark eyebrow before plucking the note in her grubby fingers and bringing it close to her beady, little eyes. Katara crossed her fingers under her desk. Toph had horrendous eyesight, so maybe she wouldn't be able to make the words out. Toph grinned. Crap. 

The bell rang. 

Katara scuttled out of her seat, tripping over air, as she attempted to catch up with Toph who had (somehow) already managed to zoom out the door. Though the black haired girl was short, her steps were long and wide and her muscular legs carried her quickly down the hallway. Katara ran to catch up. 

"Toph!" She screamed at her, trying to catch her attention. It was futile. She yelled her name again as she finally caught up and tried, hopelessly, to look over her shoulder at the note she was holding. 

"Toph!" She screeched. "Give me that!" 

As if in reply, Toph titled her head back in laughter; her bangs brushed back to reveal emerald green eyes. "My dearest Katara, oh, how your eyes shine like the bluest of oceans. My heart sings when I hear your name. To hear my own being uttered by such plump lips, I would die a thousand deaths of such pure ecstasy." Toph held the paper out of reach, while other students in the hallway listened in curiously. One girl, in particular: Jin D'vill. 

 

Jin was just minding her own business, typing back replies to texts and such, when all the sudden, she heard "TOPH" being shouted down the hallway. When she looked up, she saw Katara screaming like a banshee (which really wasn't unusual), attempting to grab something from the other girl. At first, she assumed they were in some kind of lover's spat, though she thought Katara didn't swing that way (although she was a cheerleader–so you never know). But then she heard the words. 

 

"My Heart Burns For You. Love, Zoozie." Toph finished, laughing all the while. She finally gave the note to Katara, but not before Jin had made probably the most interesting tweet of the day. 

Katara growled, her whole face flaming with embarrassment. She knew that wasn't what the note said. Any idiot would be able to figure out that Toph had made the whole thing up. The note was barely large enough to write a whole sentence, let alone a paragraph. Huffing at her friend, she looked down to read what the note really said. 

_"Katara–my band plays tonight at the Basement. See you there?"_

She squealed. 

 

Bored out of his mind, Sokka added the rest of the short, wavy hair that was Suki's on his drawing. He really didn't understand why he had to take algebra 2. This was his second time already! It wasn't like he was ever going to use it or anything, Jesus-skateboarding-Christ. So he spent his time drawing naked Suki. It had been a while since they'd last had Sex–6 hours, precisely–and he had to have some way to occupy his mind. Admiring his work, he turned in his paper to the teacher and sat back down at his desk. 

He wasn't worried about getting in trouble or anything, Mr. Pakku always just wrote "Nice…chicken?" next to every drawing. He was obviously being dense on purpose. Obviously. But now he didn't have anything to do. Checking around and observing that every student was either asleep or texting, Sokka pulled out his cell phone. First, he checked his messages: zilch. Then facebook: zip. Then his email: nada. Lastly, he pulled up twitter and began to scroll through tweets. 

Do, do, do, doooo. Sokka made a face as he read them. They were mostly stupid, pointless things. "R.I.P Amy Winehouse," he muttered aloud, rolling his eyes. "As if you care…" He squinted at the username, before saying it in a mocking manner. "Haru Li." 

The rest were pretty much about nothing or other, and he was about to log off when a new tweet bleeped up. Sokka's blue eyes widened and he choked on a breath that he hadn't known he'd been holding/

"ZUKO AGNI HAS THE HOTS FOR KATARA MARINA?!?!"

 

Now, Zuko was a simple guy. He didn't much keep up with things like Chirping, or My Book, or Face-Space. He instead preferred to keep in touch the normal way–face to face. Or, he admitted silently to himself, by passing notes to cute girls. Okay, so maybe Zuko was a bit of a dork. He may seem all cool and chill on the outside, but he didn't talk to girls! Ever! They made him feel all…weird inside and he refused to deal with it. He may be a lead singer of a band, but feelings were not his strong point. 

But when he handed Katara that pencil, sparks flew. Which sounded like a really, girly, Nicholas Sparks thing to say, but they did. He could feel it. She could too. She had to have! So, he seized the day and wrote her a hasty note, trying to leave out the words 'I love you', instead going for mysterious. It wasn't his fault, okay?

Zuko was, by nature, an awkward guy. So, even though he had been in lo–like with Katara since middle school, didn't mean he had to act on it. She was beautiful and charming and just, everything he wasn't. Plus she didn't seem even mildly interested. But that incident with the pencil…

So he carpe diem'd. And just look where it got him.

Walking into the cafeteria, every teenager swiveled in their seat to look at him. You could hear a pin drop. It was as if he had "I LOVE KATARA" written on his forehead. Which, unwittingly, he kind of almost did. No one dared to speak. No one dared to move. They just…stared. That is, until Sokka.

The older Marina brother marched through the room, right up to Zuko, and shoved his snarling face into the other boy's. Zuko visibly gulped and attempted to back away, slowly, as if Sokka was a hibernating bear he was trying to desperately to not disturb. But, sadly, Sokka was not hibernating. The dark-skinned teen grabbed Zuko by his shirt collar and threw him against the wall, his face growing more purple by the second. Zuko's lunch tray fell to the floor with a plastic clatter.

"If you even _think_ about touching my baby sister, I _will_ rearrange your face." Sokka growled, his voice lower and angrier even than the time when Katara broke his favorite toy.Hey, it had been a special-edition Boomerang, okay? He had every right to be upset, similar to how he did now. But, speaking of Katara, she chose just that moment to come strolling in, her sack lunch in her hand and a smile on her face. That is, until she saw what was happening. 

"Hey, Sokka, who're you beating up now?" She inched closer to get a good look at the victim. She gasped. "Zuko?"

Zuko, although in a very, very bad situation, felt his heart soar. Sokka, surprisingly perceptive for once, noticed this and _pow!_ Connected his fist with Zuko's jaw. He was about to land a second blow, when his short (very short) head of hair was yanked back forcefully. He turned around to see an absolutely livid Katara. Now it was his turn to gulp. 

Her hands were fisted on her hips, save for the one that was still fisted in his hair, and her wide, blue eyes were narrowed into slits. "Explain."

"Well, you see sis, this isn't what it looks like." He began to say, smiling sheepishly. 

She growled. "Does it look like you're beating up Zuko Agni for no good reason?"

"Okay," he admitted. "So it's exactly what it looks like." 

Katara opened her mouth, about ready to scream, when over her brother's shoulder, she noticed Zuko was missing. "I'll deal with you later," she hissed. Then, to the rest of the cafeteria, "Mind your own damn business!" 

The room was instantly filled with kids piling food into their mouths and loud, overbearing chatter. 

Katara stormed out, steam practically billowing out of her ears. Sokka followed, running to keep up. "Katara! Don't be so uptight, I was just trying to protect your honor!"

She stopped and pivoted around to face him. "My honor?!" She screeched. "Go find Suki!" 

Sokka, ever-the-obedient-one, obeyed without objection. 

 

Zuko raced to the boy's bathroom, he felt his face swelling up and the only safe place to hide was there. Sokka had never really used the bathroom in the high school. The boys' bathroom, that was. He usually saved himself for the frequent trips to the girls' restroom with Suki. He swung the door open, his eyes furious and his stature large and dangerous. He didn't even have to say anything to get the other guys to scurry out. 

He paced back and forth, his hands waving in the air as he tried to make sense of the situation. How had it happened? He was just minding his business, when wham! Sokka appeared, spouting some nonsense about not touching his baby sister. What the actual fuck? Had he missed something somehow? Was he being punk'd? Had Zuko somehow traveled into an alternate dimension where Sokka had a reason to beat him to a bloody pulp? A dimension where Zuko was laying hands on Katara? Suddenly the idea didn't seem too bad and the usually scowling boy smiled dorkily to himself. In the midst of Zuko's tirade/sudden daydream, he suddenly heard a timid voice.

"Zuko?" The voice asked, and right away he knew it was Katara. Buggering, flaming shit.

He pinched the bridge of his nose before answering. "In he-uh," his voice cracked and he cleared his throat before trying again. "In here." 

She walked in, arms folded across her chest (which he was not staring, at dammit!), and a frown on her face. "Do you have any idea what that was about?" She asked, eyebrows raised questioningly. 

He shrugged. 

"You sure?" 

Okay, so maybe he would do anything for her, but sometimes Katara was just too persistent. Like, really. Give up already! He doesn't know! Zuko huffed. "Why don't you ask your pin-headed brother?" So maybe that wasn't the best thing to say. 

Her anger restarted. "Now you look here, mister! You may be tall, dark, and handsome, not to mention mysterious, but your act doesn't fool me!" Handsome? "Sokka might be too much of a chicken to really fight you, but I'm not afraid of bringing out the big guns!"

"You don't even know why he hit me in the first place!"

"Well I bet you deserved it!"

"Well I bet you–"

Zuko was cut off the door swinging open. He hadn't noticed, but as they yelled, they casually drew closer together. They were almost nose-to-nose now. This was really bad, though, because the hard, metal door then thwacked Katara in the back of the head and down they went to the floor. She landed on top of him, his arms wrapped around her waist, trying to catch her as she fell. Zuko stared into her eyes. She stared into his. They leaned closer…

 

"OH MY GOD. I AM SOOOOO SORRY." Jin giggled, as Jet's lips continued to press into the skin of her neck. "We'll just go somewhere else." 

She smiled to herself. She only _thought_ that was going to be the most interesting tweet of the day. Secret trysts in the boys' restroom? Older brother threats? This was getting better than Gossip Girl!

 

"So, Katara, I hear you're dating Zuko." Aang tried to say nonchalantly, as if he didn't care. Which he didn't. Nope. Not at all. The tip of the pencil he was writing with broke harshly. He set the pencil down, choosing instead to look at Katara.

Her eyes bugged out. "How'd you hear that?" 

"So it's true," he muttered. She gave him a puzzled expression. He picked his pencil back up and pretended to continue writing. "Er, uh. Twitter."

Katara sighed dramatically and buried her face into her hands. "I have no idea how that got started."

Aang grinned triumphantly, resembling a two year old who had just received a chocolate-chip cookie. So it _wasn't_ true. "Well," he said pointedly. "Go through your events of the day."

"Okay...Well, first I woke up to the sound of Sokka and Suki having sex. Then I took a shower. Then I ate breakfast. Then I went to school. Thought about Zuk–oh, uh, the zoo for a little bit. Went to art. Then Chemistry. Then History. Got a note. Toph read it out loud. Then I–OH NO." 

He raised an eyebrow. "What?" He asked, scared to find out the answer. 

"TOPH."

Immediately, Toph strolled over to the pair, a smug smile on her lips. "You rang?" she asked deviously.

Katara fumed. "You demon! This is all your fault!"

"What's my fault? You and Zuko actually flirting?" Toph picked dirt out from underneath her fingernails. "OH NOES, the world is going to end." She said mockingly. 

Katara looked indignant. "Zuko and I do not flirt!" 

Toph gasped in fake astonishment. "Oh my golly, you're right! You just skip class to mess around in the boys' bathroom instead." 

"What?" Aang squeaked, the tips of his ears burning red. 

The cheerleader scoffed and tilted her nose in the air. "I would never!" 

Toph gave her a pointed look. "But you did."

"Not like that!"

Aang gasped. "You did?"

Toph clucked her tongue while shaking her head slowly, side-to-side. "Sweetness, babe. Listen up. I know you've had the hots for Zoozie for a while now. Ah, ah, ah, don't deny it. But I just so happen to know, that Mr. Angry Pants has been nursing a long time crush on you, too. So before you get your knickers in a twist, think about it. How perfect are you two, together? Go. Go tell him."

Katara held her chin in a thinking position. She sat silently for a few. Then her face brightened and an invisible light bulb blinked above her head. "I've got to go, Aang! Thanks Toph! See you later!"

After Katara rushed off, Aang huffed. "Toph! Why would you do that? You know I love Katara!" He pouted.

She sighed and placed an arm around his shoulder as she sat down in Katara's now empty chair. "Check it, Twinkles. You, my friend, are a know-it-all, goody-two-shoes wimp who ("whom") thinks mathletes is a sport." 

"It is a sport!" He cried out.

Toph ignored him. "But, Zuko, on the other hand, is a hottie. He sings. He writes. He broods mysteriously in the corner wearing a black motorcycle jacket. He and Sugar Queen are made for each other. Opposites attract y'know? Don't take it too hard, kid."

And with that, she patted him on the back, before getting and up and stretching. "Catch you later, Twinkletoes." And as she walked away, she heard Aang yell out, clearly frustrated, "I could get a motorcycle jacket!" She chuckled to herself. Poor kid.

 

Walking down the hallway to find Zuko, Katara began to doubt herself. What was she doing? Today was going horribly wrong! She was being a bad kid! A bad cheerleader! First, she screamed wildly while attacking Toph in a public place. Next, she assaulted her brother in a public place. Then she swore in a public place. After that she was seen canoodling in a public place! Now she was skipping class to chase down another class skipper! In a public place! 

"Not to mention I'm taking relationship advice from a lesbian." Katara rubbed her temples.

"You've been talking to Toph, then?" 

Katara swiveled around to see Zuko staring at her, a half-smile on his face. She blushed. "Yeah, yeah, I have. And even though she is a lesbian, she gives very good advice." She tried not to think about their almost kiss from earlier. "And I intend to use it. Right now."

Zuko's half-smile dropped and he seemed almost disappointed. Butterflies began to brew in her stomach. What if he didn't like her back? What if she was mistaken? What if this was just a really, really, really bad idea? What if– _can it, Sugar Queen!_

Katara summoned all her courage and grabbed Zuko's shirt, pulling him to her. His eyes widened as her lips forcefully pressed against his. It began awkwardly enough, seeing how she nearly missed his mouth entirely, but then he slanted his lips against hers and Katara almost melted. This was nice. This was…good. Weird, but good. It was like a dream, actually, if Katara had to use one word to describe it. 

She pulled back. "Wow." 

 

"Wow." He agreed. Katara had kissed him. Him! His mind was going a million miles a minute. They both bashfully looked anywhere but at each other. But that only lasted for about point two seconds until they lunged for each other again. This kiss was even better than the first one. It was harder, more passionate. Her hands were tangled in his hair and his hands were resting on her hips. Everything was going great.

"DIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"

Zuko and Katara pulled apart (though still connected), surprised to see half the student body staring at them. Apparently the bell had rung without them noticing. Zuko's eyes widened as he saw Sokka running full speed at him, a battle scream tearing from his lips. Zuko opened his mouth to scream in terror when, out of nowhere, Suki grabbed Sokka by the hair (his head was going to hurt after today) and pulled his mouth to hers. The crowd gathered around them now, instead.

He faced Katara. Her cheeks were equally as red as his. They slowly, awkwardly, untangled themselves from the other. "Um." 

"Um."

Zuko scratched his neck. "I'll see you tonight, then?"

She nodded. "Sing me a song?" she asked, smiling.

He smirked. "Only for you."

 

"When I said sing me a song, I was joking!" Katara squealed, her hands fisted at her sides. 

Zuko only shrugged and kissed her on the cheek. She blushed.

"Zuko!" Katara scream-whispered at him. "You are not doing this! I forbid it!"

The boy smirked at her before walking on stage. He turned around as he reached the steps, as he told her cheekily, "Might as well make it official." Not that the kiss didn't already make it official.

Katara fumed while the band set up. She tapped her foot impatiently. She rested her weight side to side. She gnawed the inside of her lip. She chewed a piece of bubblegum. She braided and re-braided her hair. She sighed and huffed loudly about several hundred times, when finally…

One of the members strummed his guitar and Zuko stepped up to the mic. He gave Katara a smug look. She glowered. 

"You never ever leave my heart,  
Ah my sweet, sweet Katara  
Every time they try to tear us apart,  
My love for you restarts.   
And I can barely make a sound,  
whenever you're around.  
You can find me hiding in the crowd,  
Next time you come to town."

The music began to speed up and Katara couldn't help but let a smile creep across her lips. She shook her head disbelievingly as Zuko continued to sing. 

"Every time I want to say, hello.  
Every time I want to stay, I go.  
Can never find the words to let you know:  
Sometimes, you play my mind a million times."

As he repeated the chorus, Toph came up behind her, wrapped around a drunk Ty-Lee. "I knew, Sweetness. I knew it from the start. Didn't I, Ty?" 

Ty-Lee could only giggle while nodding her head enthusiastically. Katara tried to look angry, but failed as Zuko was still singing a song. About her. He was singing A SONG. ABOUT HER. 

"Wish I could somehow let you know  
that all the way from here to Mexico,  
You're the one and only girl for me.  
He-he tu es un, bonjour oui oui.  
And my tongue gets tied so quick.  
I get so nervous I'm feeling sick.  
I turn into the world's worst Romeo,  
every time I try to say "hello"."

The rest of the band joined in. 

"You're so fine  
You're on my mind  
Get nervous every time I see you hop online!  
Every time I want to say hello,  
every time I want to stay, I go  
can never find the words to let you know  
sometimes, you play mind a million times."

Not even waiting for the crowd to clap, Katara leaped on the stage, capturing Zuko's mouth with her own. He smiled down at her.

"Hello." He said.

"Hello." She said back.

 

Down by the drinks, standing next to a drunken Jet who was trying to pick up other girls ("I'm standing right here, DAMMIT!"), Jin smirked, flipping out her phone to type another tweet.

"Alls well that ends well for our real life Romeo and Juliet. Remember, Katara and Zuko, I was right from the start, of course!"

Of course.

 

The End.


End file.
